" Go mama"

Since starting college, I have felt like citing is one of those gray areas. I am always worried I am citing incorrectly. So much of citing seems to be instructor specific. Even if Little Brown handbook says to do it one way, in my experience, instructors have a way they like it to be done. For me, this puts my stomach in knots when I sit down to write a paper. I find joy in writing, not the citing part. I am all for giving credit where credit is due, however to me, when it comes down to citing it seems there are many ways to go about it.

Here are some of the basics of MLA Formatting(practical argument p 342)

• Use in text citations- Include just enough information for the reader to locate the source and the place from which it was borrowed
• Paper should have One inch margins all the way around
• Indent first line of each paragraph
• In the upper left hand margin put your name, Instructor,course, and date.
• A title 
• A works cited list

You do need rules inn writing, just as you do in life. A few days ago I was driving with my five year old son. We were stopped at a red light and some cars in the turning lane next to us received an arrow to turn. He quickly said, GO MAMA! I said I cannot go, our light is red. If I went a car could hit us. He said why cant they stop and we go, I said because that is the rules of the road, just like our rules at home and school. He said "I don't know why dere gotta be rules"? I replied, because they keep safe.

It does not matter if your five or fifty no one really like rules all that much, but they are put in place usually for good reasons.

A few Summers ago

This Summer, my youngest three.

"The Way You Lie"

"With any part you play, there is a certain amount of yourself in it. There has to be, otherwise it's not acting. It's lying." Johnny Depp


Why be someone else when you can be yourself? This applies to all aspects of life as well as writing. Your writing is your voice, on paper. Last year in my history class, my teacher told us of a student that had plagiarized. He literally copied and pasted an entire paper! Why would anyone think they could get by with such cheating? The really sad part is, she said he was a great student with a solid "B" in her class. Good student or not, he had lost all credibility in her class and she had no choice but to fail and report him.

Tips for Avoiding plagiarism from our book, A practical Argument(p 353-354).

• Keep track of the sources you use while writing your paper
• Make sure your are using your ideas, not someone else's
• Never cut and paste
• Always include parenthetical citations and a works cited page

Being the youngest of eight children, I quickly learned if I wanted something I was going to have to work for it. Literally. I hope to teach my kids the same. Nobody said life was easy, but my friend, that is part of the journey.Hard work is gratifying and no one can take that away. 

Maiden voyage!

To express my voice I am writing today to give you a glimpse into my life. My family is the center of my life. Everything encircles around them. I enjoy traveling with my family. Going to my kids shows, recitals and soccer games. I am a lover of coffee and all its perks. I am really looking forward to Grey's Anatomy coming back for the fall, along with Revenge and Nashville.

I am just a normal girl who all be it, tries to work out when I can. However, one of my favorite de-stressers is baking, it is like therapy for me.Yes, I am a good taste tester!

You might have a few misconceptions about me since i am a mother if 4. I do have the minivan, but hey what else are you going to fit everyone in! I am a mother, but I am still me. I love dates with my husband, music,reading, watching movies,a nice glass of wine and a good conversation with a friend and the occasional roller coaster(injecting tone)!

This Summer my family and I visited my husbands sister and family in south Florida. We had not seen them in over three years! They have children around the same age as ours so the kids had great fun with their cousins! We went to the beach almost every day, found shells and crabs in the sand. The town they live in is not very "touristy"so it is a much more relaxing beach experience. It is true when you write you do sit down and open vein. A view into my world....

This is the boardwalk in Vero beach, FL.

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